The Future of the Republican Party is as Important to Democrats as the Future of the Democratic Party: Some partisan Dems (of which I'm a charter member) are hoping that Palin's influence waxes rather than wanes, on the theory that the more she mesmerizes her pary, the better it is for long-term Democratic interests, since she can only take the Republicans into enhanced irrelevance.
I'm all for that.
But I worry about the implications for the long-term health of political life in this country.
Republicans have sullied political life for the last 15 years (or more) with their Machiavellian power grabs and this has been *very* bad for the country. With Dems in control, wouldn't it be much better to have reasonable Republicans advocating policies that actually made logical sense (even if we disagreed with them)? Wouldn't that ultimately be better for the country as a whole?
I fear for a Democratic party that thinks it has all the best answers and doesn't need an opposition party to help it hone its message and policies into something even better than it starts out as. The whole Clinton/Obama primary battle should be Exhibit A in why credible competition is much more healthy for long-term political interests.
